Doing It for Me Completes Spring Festival Run

Posted by Lance Kramer1501.40sc on May 12, 2014

MHP students and filmmakers at the 2014 West Chester Film Festival. From left: Victoria, Precious, Jayana, and Leah

Over the past two months, Meridian Hill Pictures’ short student doc Doing It for Me screened at three local film festivals: Bethesda Film Fest, Annapolis Film Festival, and West Chester Film Festival. The film tells the intimate story of two high school students who have dropped out and their best friend who encourages them to improve their circumstances.

On March 21-22, the film made its festival premiere to a sold-out crowd at the Imagination Stage in Bethesda, MD. Co-directors Leah Edwards and Precious Lambert were in attendance on the opening night and for a Q&A session following the screening. Afterwards, they had the chance to mingle with viewers and industry professionals.

In the Q&A, Lambert and Edwards shared with the audience what it was like to document and follow the high-school dropout epidemic in the nation’s capitol from a youth perspective. Quotes from the Q&A were live-tweeted on MHP’s Twitter page:

'Today, filmmaking is much more accessible to young people thanks to advances in technology' - Leah Edwards @grlwthlonghair @sitarartscenter

In the following months, the Doing It for Me crew travelled to the Annapolis Film Festival in Maryland and the West Chester Film Festival in Pennsylvania, where the film was shown alongside the work of other young filmmakers from across the US. Below are some snaps from the festivals:

Sitar students await the opening night screening at Bethesda Film Fest

Precious (far left) and Leah (third from left) participate in an audience Q&A session at Bethesda Film Fest

Leah visits the Annapolis Film Festival

The group poses outside the West Chester Film Festival

A well-deserved ice cream break.

MHP would like to thank all audiences and crew members who made these film festivals a success. Hope to see you again next year!

More about Youth Documentary Program

SoCal Clips Indie Film Fest has accepted IN THE PATH OF MY FATHER for its 2016 season! This year's festival takes place at The Historic Raleigh Studios in Hollywood, CA from August 12-14 and was voted one of the "Best Emerging Film Festivals in Los Angeles" by Film Fest Spot in 2015.

Even after the movie ends, there’s always another strikingly beautiful moment of watching the credits roll for a film you helped bring to life. It always hits me when I see the names of all the people — participants, students, families, teaching artists, and other film advisors — who traveled together on that challenging, yet amazing journey in creating the film. As a media teaching artist and documentary filmmaker, I am reminded with every new project that documentary filmmaking is not easy; you have to let go of control, be a team player, and be ready to adapt to change at any moment during the process. It’s both stimulating and exhausting. But it’s always a joy to see my young students create. My phenomenal film students from Sitar Arts Center fully embraced those challenges last Spring and came out with a powerful and heartwarming film about the importance of community support in the face of struggle: IN THE PATH OF MY FATHER.

We’re thrilled to announce that IN THE PATH OF MY FATHER, the latest short documentary produced through the 2015 Meridian Hill Pictures/Sitar Arts Center Youth Documentary Program, has been accepted into the 2016 Annapolis Film Festival and the 4th annual Bethesda Film Fest.

Contact Us

Optional email code

Want to screen one of our films? Interested in commissioning MHP to produce a short film for your org? Please share any info on project scope, budget, and timeline. Share your contact details and we will follow up shortly to discuss next steps!